horrible, horrible undeserved credit woes caused by Henry Ford (evil) and Comcast (eviler)

2004-03-09

Last night I got another letter from Henry Ford Hospital stating that I was being put into collections.

In brief, I went to the doctor last year, waited an hour and a half, then was told by the doctor to come back in a month and a half as it was to soon for my insurance to cover this visit as an annual checkup.

So I did just that. Unfortunately, the hospital then charged my insurance for the office visit (hey, it's a regular mistake, I can deal with that) PLUS some lab work (which is just ridiculous). Contrary to what the doctor said, my insurance paid. So when I came back as told and they billed my insurance AGAIN, the insurance did not pay. So now Henry Ford has me in collections.

Just like with Comcast, every time I call, I get some nice person who promises to take care of the situation and then nothing ever happens. Leo even wrote a letter to them recently threatening to sue. They have no record of it.

So I was pretty darned angry about this. Plus, the Comcast thing is still not resolved. On the way to work, I was getting more and more worked up over this. While I waited for the Henry Ford and Comcast customer service lines to be opened, I decided to write the following letter to the FCC:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

To whom it may concern:


In January of 2003, I moved six miles north from Detroit to Southfield. In Detroit I was a Comcast Cable digital subscriber. I had signed up for the same service from the same company in my new home and naturally thought that I could use the same equipment. When my cable was hooked up I was told that I must return my Detroit cable box to Detroit, which I did.

In March of 2003, Comcast Cable put me into collections for the cable box which I had returned. After 10 months of work on my part, this was finally resolved and Comcast verbally acknowledges that I do not owe them money. Unfortunately, this billing error made it as far as my credit report. While Comcast has updated their internal records to reflect my good standing, they have not updated the data tapes that are given to the major credit reporting agencies; on those it appears that I am still in collections.

This has been my situation for four months now. Almost every week, I call Comcast and they promise to rectify the situation but nothing ever happens. I have been told that the credit agency requires only a letter stating that I am in good standing with Comcast. Comcast has been, so far, unable to produce this letter.

I am at the end of my rope. My credit has been ruined, I have been financially hurt by this company as a result, and this is taking a significant toll on my mental well being.

I'm not quite sure how I was going to end it or what I was asking for. I ended up calling Comcast and someone wrote out (in longhand) a letter stating that I don't owe money and am not in collections. I faxed it to the credit bureau. We'll see...

The Henry Ford people, of course, told me that they'd take care of the situation. I don't beleive them, but I guess one victory per day is enough. Anyway, what else can I do? Stage a sit-in in their customer service department?

So, is this the end of my undeserved credit problems? No. I'm sure it isn't. We are looking into getting a locking mailbox now. Identity theft is exactly the kind of thing that would happen to me. And if it takes two years to get these billing mistakes rectified, what would it take to undo that?

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